The Aporia · ‘Lawfare’ emerges as new threat to journalists in Pakistan

‘Lawfare’ emerges as new threat to journalists in Pakistan

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Junaidi, I. (2026, October 30). ‘Lawfare’ emerges as new threat to journalists in Pakistan. Dawn. https://www.dawn.com/news/2040877/lawfare-emerges-as-new-threat-to-journalists-in-pakistan

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Quick Summary

A new report by Freedom Network, an Islamabad-based media watchdog, reveals that despite a decline in documented violations against journalists in Pakistan during 2025-26, there has been an increase in what is termed “lawfare,” with legal actions and threats of legal action being used to punish dissent. The report highlights the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) as central to this issue, noting that it is increasingly employed by authorities to target digital and independent journalists through cybercrime procedures. This includes cases involving reporting on public expenditure, corruption, or official conduct, leading to punitive processes even without confirmed charges or convictions.

Written by AI on 2026-11-01, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of October 30, 2026, Freedom Network, an Islamabad-based media watchdog, released its latest annual Impunity Report titled "From Violence to Lawfare: Process as Punishment for Journalists." The report highlights that despite a decline in documented violations against media workers in Pakistan during 2025-26, the country remains hostile towards journalism and journalists. According to the report, authored by journalist Adnan Rehmat and Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak with technical assistance from International Media Support (IMS), about 10 cases a month were reported against media personnel, indicating that fewer violations do not necessarily mean greater safety for journalists.

The report specifically notes an increase in the use of Peca, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, to punish dissent among journalists. This trend suggests that impunity has evolved from a failure to punish violence into a broader system of coercion. The findings were released on Thursday ahead of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists observed globally on November 2 each year.

Written for “Lawsuit Threats Against Journalists Pakistan” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.

Pakistan remained deeply hostile to journalism and its practitioners in 2025-26 despite a decline in documented violations against media workers

left describes the government's actions as 'hostile' towards journalists
Cases documented between October 2025 and August 2026 included one work-related killing, three attempted assassinations, 18 threats of murder or harm, 11 assaults, 13 legal actions and 32 threats of legal action

left details the various forms of violence and legal harassment against journalists
Digital and independent journalists were targeted most often. Victims or their families identified government authorities and officials as alleged instigators in nearly two-thirds of the cases

left attributes responsibility for violations to government entities
The report identifies the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) and its increasing use against journalists by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to punish dissent as “central to this legal siege” of online journalism in the country

left criticizes the government's use of Peca to suppress dissent

Reading Leans strongly left (beta estimate) Confidence high

Leaning: leans strongly left for article 116455 (high confidence, 4 verified quotes) · logged 2026-11-01

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Excessive punishment Different event

Dawn

⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 1 of 11 claims Outlet record 72/100

“The articles discuss different aspects of a broader issue, with Article A covering a general trend in Pakistan towards using legal processes against journalists and Article B detailing a specific case involving human rights lawyers.”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

1 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans strongly left

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

72/100

Dawn's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Politics

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-11-01 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Dawn · 2540 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Ikram Junaidi

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 35 articles by Ikram Junaidi →

Topics

Freedom Network Freedom Network’s ISLAMABAD Pakistan Peca

Subjects

ISLAMABAD GPE · 3× Peca ORG · 3× Freedom Network ORG · 2× Pakistan GPE · 2× Adnan Rehmat PERSON · 1× Freedom Network’s ORG · 1× IMS ORG · 1× International Media Support ORG · 1× Iqbal Khattak PERSON · 1× Khattak PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Peca increasingly used to punish dissent, says Freedom Network report The report was released on Thursday ahead of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, observed worldwide, including in Pakistan, on Nov 2 each year. “Despite the presence on the statute books of two laws to combat impunity for crimes against journalists, such a finding should be a matter of concern for those at the helm of affairs of the two safety commissions established under these laws,” Mr Khattak said.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-01

2026-11-01 · Dawn

‘Lawfare’ emerges as new threat to journalists in Pakistan · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 1 hedged)

Pakistan remained deeply hostile to journalism and its practitioners in 2025-26 despite a decline in documented violations against media workers, according to a new report issued by an Islamabad-based media watchdog. uncertain

Pakistan → remain → watchdog

“About 10 cases a month [against media personnel], their nationwide spread and severity in the period showed that fewer violations did not mean greater safety,” stated Freedom Network’s latest annual Impunity Report 2026, titled “From Violence to Lawfare: Process as Punishment for Journalists”. asserted

Report → show → Journalists

Produced with technical assistance from International Media Support (IMS), the report was authored by journalist Adnan Rehmat and Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak. asserted

report → produce → Rehmat

It finds that “impunity has evolved from a failure to punish violence into a broader system of coercion”. asserted

impunity → find → coercion

Khattak → use → laws

Cases documented between October 2025 and August 2026 included one work-related killing, three attempted assassinations, 18 threats of murder or harm, 11 assaults, 13 legal actions and 32 threats of legal action. asserted

Cases → document → action

Punjab recorded 49 cases, just over half the total, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad and Balochistan. asserted

Punjab → record → Pakhtunkhwa

Digital and independent journalists were targeted most often. asserted

journalists → target → ?

Victims or their families identified government authorities and officials as alleged instigators in nearly two-thirds of the cases. asserted

Victims → identify → cases

The report identifies the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) and its increasing use against journalists by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to punish dissent as “central to this legal siege” of online journalism in the country. asserted

report → identify → country

A detailed analysis of representative Peca-related cases against journalists reveals a recurring pattern in which allegations of defamation, false information, harassment or reputational harm are channelled through cybercrime procedures, including in cases involving reporting on public expenditure, corruption or official conduct. asserted

allegations → relate → expenditure

Even without a confirmed FIR or conviction, the process itself becomes “punitive” through summonses, device scrutiny, travel, legal costs, detention, repeated hearings, and reputational harm, the report says. asserted

report → confirm → summonses

It adds that relief is commonly limited to bail or procedural protection rather than final vindication. asserted

relief → add → vindication

The report also provides guidelines for journalists and other media practitioners facing Peca-related cases to help minimise the harmful effects of legal action. asserted

report → provide → action

It expresses concern over the lack of institutional safeguards for media workers despite the establishment of two high-powered safety commissions, one at the federal level and the other in Sindh. asserted

It → express → Sindh

“The federal journalist protection mechanism is effectively dysfunctional, while the Sindh Commission, although more visible, has limited reach and demonstrated protection impact outside Karachi,” it says. asserted

it → have → Karachi